Bittersweet Sixteen (A Dodie Jenks Novel) (16 page)

“I’m sorry. That’s the caterer. I have to go meet with her. Continue please,” I heard Grandma whisper before the door to the room opened and closed.

“There is nothing to be afraid of in the dark, Dodie. You are safe.” Leopold closed my fingers around what I had first thought was cool and smooth, but it was a little rough and jagged. “Can you see the stone?”

It was the strangest thing, but I did. I saw a pale green stone with what looked like white crystals around it. “Yes.”

“And what about this?” Oscar asked, closing my fingers around the stone in my left hand. “Can you see it?”

This one wasn’t smooth or cool after all. It was rough and rigid, but long. The texture of it felt like wood. Not a stone at all. A twig? Maybe a broken limb? From a tree, a very far away tree.

“Is it wood?”

“Very good.”

The next thing I felt was something wet being rubbed across my lips, then the same wetness was traced from my forehead, down the bridge of my nose, across my lips to the end of my chin.

Again there was chanting as Oscar’s and Leopold’s voices melded together, but the clarity I’d seen only a moment ago was gone. In its place, a smoky haze shrouded around me. I was in the woods, wearing my dress, running as fast as I could in the strappy silver heels, careful not to trip or fall. I couldn’t see what was chasing me, but I knew I was in danger. I wanted to open my eyes. I wanted to sit up and dispel the thoughts running through my head, but I couldn’t. The darkness was reaching its inky fingers toward me trying to overtake me, but Leopold had said the darkness wouldn’t harm me. That I had the power. I was in control and I was safe, yet I couldn’t stop running. My heart raced within my chest and I began to cry for help, but no sound came forth from my lungs. They burned instead. And then in the distance I saw a lone figure, but I was too far away to know if it was good or evil.

My body began to tremble and I felt my spine twisting and bending as I floated upward over the trees. A mauve-colored fog hovered along the tree tops, but I moved like I was in a trance over the haze, skipping and hopping in a dancelike fashion from one tree top to the other. Then I was falling, falling fast toward the ground and suddenly I was face to face with the lone figure at the end of the trees, a figure that was pure evil and I cowered, shielding myself with my arms to keep it from looking upon me.

“Dodie. Dodie.”

I heard Leopold call to me. The lone figure of evil was gone and I was in the mist again, but I couldn’t see him. I couldn’t find him in the darkness.

“Something’s wrong. It didn’t work.”

“Give her time, Leopold. Everyone adjusts differently to spells.”

A bright light pierced through the darkness and I jerked upright off the bed, gasping for breath.

“Dodie,” Leopold pulled me into his arms and held me. I coughed as the face I’d seen in the darkness flitted through my mind one last time as I pushed it away.

I was trembling and unsure what had happened. Why did I keep seeing myself running through the woods wearing my blue dress? It didn’t make sense.

“Are you okay?” Oscar asked.

I nodded, still unable to speak.

He patted my arm. “I think you need to lie down for a while. We’ll leave you alone. Come on, Leopold. We need to tell Cherie it’s done.”

I curled up on my side and noticed I held a natural stone in one hand and a piece of wood in the other. I laid them on the bedside table beside the bowl of salt. My eyelids felt heavy and my eyes stung. I closed them for a few minutes, still unsure that what had just happened helped me break the curse.

What seemed like a few moments later, I rolled over feeling warm and opened my eyes to find an afghan spread over me. Leopold was lying on the other side of the bed watching me. He looked worried, but smiled.

“Did I fall asleep?”

“Yes.”

“Wh—what time is it?” I started to sit up, but found I was still drained from earlier, so I laid still. “My parents are supposed to be here at two.”

“Don’t worry. You have time.”

“Can you explain what earlier was about? I know you said it was to prep me for tonight and breaking the curse, but I don’t understand—”

He sat up and crossed his legs. “I’ll try to help you understand, but first, can you tell me what happened before you began gasping for breath?”

“I was running in the woods. Something or someone was chasing me and the darkness was closing in on me, then everything went black. I was floating above the trees and then I was falling back to the ground. I could hear you, but I couldn’t see you. I couldn’t see anything and then it became light again and that is when I began gasping for breath.”

He grinned and that adorable dimple showed again. “Then it did work. I was afraid it hadn’t.”

“If you are a powerful warlock, then why do you doubt yourself?”

He shrugged. “I guess because I’m without a coven. I was disowned and if I fail, I can have my powers stripped. Breaking this curse is not only a big deal for you, Dodie. It’s for me as well.”

I slowly pushed myself up to a sitting position, feeling stronger as the minutes pass. “Do you need the coven to take you back?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“A warlock is like a bastard, Dodie. No one wants to be a bastard.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

By the time my parents arrived I was sitting in the living room, still wrapped in the afghan, sipping tea with Grandma. Oscar and Leopold had gone for a walk. I had a feeling they had really gone to sniff out Anson.

“Are you okay, honey?” Grandma asked before going to answer the door. “You look a little pale.”

“I’ll be fine. I’ll take a nap after I spend some time with Mom and Dad.”

“If you’re sure.”

“I am.”

However, I couldn’t pretend like everything was fine once my mom saw me. “Are you coming down with something?” she asked, placing her hand on my forehead. “Robert, come here and see what you think. My hands might be a little cold, but I believe she is running a fever.”

Dad placed his hand to my forehead and gave me a concerned look. “I think you need to go upstairs and get into bed.”

“But what about lunch? I’ve been waiting for you to get here. I’m starved.”

“I’ll bring you a tray up,” Mom said. “Now go on up and change into a night gown and crawl into bed. It won’t hurt for you to rest before your big night.”

I sighed, but couldn’t resist complaining a little. “So much for getting my hair professionally styled.”

“It looks nice, but don’t worry. I think we will be able to fluff it out.”

Yeah. I’m sure it would since Oscar had protected it, but she didn’t know that. I trudged upstairs and got into my nightgown and crawled into bed, not really minding the thought of taking a nap. I just hoped I felt better once I woke up.

I must have already fallen asleep when my mom brought the tray up because when I opened my eyes I found it sitting on my desk and Sasha hanging her things in my closet.

“Hi.” She smiled. “I hope I didn’t wake you?”

“No. What time is it?”

“A little after six. They warned that you were running a slight temp so if I need to bunk on the couch downstairs tonight I don’t mind.”

“No. I’m sure that won’t be necessary. I feel fine now. Though I’m starving.”

She hurried to my desk and brought the tray over, peeking under the plate cover to see what was there. “Yum. Chicken salad with grapes and pecans on a croissant, but it has been sitting there for a while. I’m a stickler about mayo going bad. Let me go down and get you a fresh sandwich.”

“Thanks, Sasha.”

“No problem. We don’t need you getting food poisoning and missing your party.”

While she was gone I got out of bed and went into the bathroom, deciding a quick shower wouldn’t hurt. I felt one hundred percent better which meant all that was left was for me to get ready for the big event. My hair still looked like it did when we came back from the salon so Oscar’s spell was working.

Getting out of the shower, I dried off and slipped my silk robe on before going back into my bedroom. Sasha was coming into the room with my tray.

“Change in menu. The caterer sent you up something special. A sampling of what will be served tonight in case you don’t get a chance to eat. She even put two berry tarts on here for you. Though I’m told there will be birthday cake at midnight.”

“Yummy,” I said, surveying the neatly organized plate of food. “You want any of this?”

“Brody and I grabbed a burger on the way over. I’ll wait until the party.”

I took the tray over to the bed and ate every morsel of the savory meat bites and raw veggies and dip, finishing it off with the berry tarts. A knock came at my door and Sasha ran over to open it.

“You can’t come in here. She isn’t dressed.”

“I need to give her this to drink.” I heard Leopold, but couldn’t see him because she was standing in the doorway.

“What is this? It smells awesome.” She said and started to take a drink, but he grabbed the glass away from her.

“It’s for Dodie and I’ll give it to her if you don’t mind.” His voice was stern and she backed away, allowing him to enter the room.

Sasha stood there with her back to us in a frozen state like she was under a trance. It reminded me of when Leopold broke that glass in the living room and time stood still.

I made sure the belt to my robe was securely tied and got up off the bed. “Hey.”

“Are you feeling okay?” he asked.

I nodded. “What do you have that I need to drink? I already had my juice this morning.”

“I know, but this is something to keep you calm. I know how you tend to panic.”

I took the glass and smelled the liquid immediately. Sasha had been right. I took a drink and the flavor was so rich and powerful that my tongue tingled. Licking my lips to make sure I drank every last drop, I handed him the glass back.  “That was good. Passion fruit, honey, and lime?”

He smiled. “Excellent. Your taste buds can’t be fooled.”

I pulled him to me and kissed him. “You left out the cinnamon.”

“No I didn’t. It was there.”

“Hmmm. Are you going back downstairs?” I asked, walking back to the bed.

He nodded.

“Then will you take this with you.” I pick up the tray, handing it to him. “And don’t forget poor Sasha.”

“She’ll not even know I was here.” He winked, disappearing out the door before closing it. I heard him snap his fingers.

Sasha pivoted and tilted her head as she looked at me. “Strange. What were we talking about?”

“Nothing. I was eating and you were putting your clothes in the closet.”

She frowned. “Then why am I over here?”

“There was a noise at the door, it sounded like a knock, but when you opened it no one was there.”

“Brody’s messing with us,” she said. “He’s been in a teasing mood all day. I swear I’m going to clobber him before the night is over.”

I smiled. Poor Brody will deserve ever lick he gets from her too. “I’m going to go brush my teeth. Will you help me with my makeup?”

“Sure. I brought a few shades of blue eye shadow that I thought would go great with your dress. Has Leopold seen you in it yet?”

I had a mouth full of toothpaste suds since I was brushing so I walked to the door and shook my head from side to side.

“He’s gonna flip when he sees you tonight.”

I nodded up and down and then went back to the sink to spit. I rinsed my toothbrush and then sloshed water in my mouth, feeling all minty clean. I took my makeup supplies into the bedroom and put them on my desk, sitting down in the chair to wait for Sasha to do her magic.

“I also brought a little something to make you sparkle tonight.” She showed me the spray bottle of body glitter. “You can use it if you want, but if you don’t, no biggie.”

“I think I’ll pass, but thanks for the offer.” The last thing I wanted was to be a sparkling corpse if I should die. The thought struck me funny and I began to snicker.

“What’s so funny?” Sasha asked.

“A sparkling corpse. Can you imagine? Would one sparkle in the moonlight? Whereas vampires sparkle in the daylight, according to Stephanie Meyers.”

Sasha rolled her eyes. “What made you think of that?”

I shrugged and laughed out loud then I began to hiccup. I bent over, and put my head between my knees, holding my breath.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

I looked up at her. “Trying to get rid of the hiccups.”

Now she began to laugh and I followed suit, laughing and hiccupping until my mom came in to find out what was going on.

I tried to explain, but I was having trouble catching my breath between hiccups. And it took Sasha a bit to sober up to where she could tell my mom what happened.

“Ah, sweetie, it’s your nerves. I’m sure you’re a bundle of excited mess right now thinking about the party.”

“That has to be it.”

“I’ll get you some water,” Sasha said, running from the room.

Mom, being a mom, immediately put her hand to my forehead to check for a fever. “All better. You must have just needed some sleep.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“Can I help you do anything to get dressed?”

“Should I go barelegged or wear pantyhose?” I asked.

“Good question. What do your shoes look like?”

I went into the closet to get my shoes as another hiccup came and I giggled, hiccupping again. I wondered if this was a side effect of what Leopold gave me to drink. If they didn’t stop soon I was going to go hunt him down and find out. I couldn’t continue like this all night.

Mom looked down at my manicured toes and at my strappy shoes. “I believe I’d go barelegged. You are going to be in the house and it’d be a shame to cover up that cute bling on your big toes.

“What?” I looked down and sure enough, the nail technician had added bling to my large toenails too without me even noticing. So it was settled. I would go
au natural. I sat my shoes on the floor and went back into my closet to get my dress. Mom hadn’t seen it yet so I took off my robe and stepped into it, holding it up in place before going back out for her to lace up the back.

“Oh Dodie, you look so grown up!” she cried as I turned around.

“Will you do the back for me?” I asked, trying not to get all misty eyed over this moment. If I started I might not be able to stop and it would not do for me to be red-eyed tonight at my party.

“Sure,” she said, stepping forward and taking ahold of the dress. “I got the back in place, now make sure you lift up so the bra is supporting you.”

“Okay.”

While she was lacing the back, Sasha returned without the water. “Leopold said you need to hold your breath for five seconds and exhale slowly through your nose. Repeat that until they stop. He said the hiccup is a side effect and that you’d understand.”

“Gotcha.”

“Do you mind explaining what it is a side effect of?” Sasha asked.

“Something I drank earlier.”

She frowned. “You had water with the food I brought you.”

“There,” Mom announced, turning me around to face her. “Perfect. You look absolutely perfect. And your hair has stayed in place beautifully. All you need now is jewelry.”

“Grandma said something about a family heirloom. Do you know what it is?”

“No, I don’t, but I’ll go find out. Sasha, you better hurry up and change.”

“Yes, Mrs. Jenks,” Sasha said. “Dodie, sit down so I can do your makeup.”

“Keep it light. I don’t wear a lot.” I returned to my desk chair and let her work her magic with the cosmetics. When she was finished she handed me a mirror to check out her work. I was pleased to find I looked very natural in the make-up. “Wow.”

“Is that a good wow or a bad one?”

“Good. Definitely good.”

“Excellent. Now I gotta run and dress.” She was across the room in two strides, but stopped and turned back to me. “Leopold said he’d be up in a few to bring you something special.”

“Okay.” I slowly got up and went to get my shoes and put them on. A light tap at the door and I was back across the room to open the door.

“Hi.”

Leopold stood there staring at me speechless. He looked me up and down a few times before he stepped back and stared at me a few moments more.

I felt a little apprehensive because he didn’t speak, but it was clear he was floored by my appearance. But he looked awesome in his black suit, which looked like it could pass for a tuxedo.

“This isn’t the dress I expected you to be wearing,” he finally said.

“No. They had a new shipment of dresses when Grandma and I went back and I found this one. Do you like?”

I knew it was a silly question by the way he had reacted, but sometimes a girl needs to fish for the verbal answer she wants to hear.

“I more than like it. I love it. I love you in it.”

“Thank you.” I looked toward the closed bathroom door and back to Leopold. “Sasha is in the bathroom getting ready. I think I better come out into the hallway with you. I’d hate for her to come out undressed.”

“Yeah. You and me too.” He reached up and adjusted his tie at the collar. “Let’s walk down to the window at the end of the hall.

I closed the door behind me and followed him. “She mentioned you had a surprise for me?”

He nodded. “I actually have two.”

“Oh?”

We stopped at the window and he picked up a plastic container that was waiting for us there
on the ledge. “It’s a custom to bring your date a corsage for a dance like this.” He opened the container and pulled out the flower and slipped the wrist band over my hand.

I brought my wrist to my face and smelled the white rose’s fragrance. “I thought you said you didn’t know what I
was wearing. Yet the corsage has blue ribbon and netting.”

“I didn’t know, but Cherie did tell me you were wearing blue.”

“Leave it to Grandma.”

“I also have something very special I’d like you to wear tonight. It belonged to my mother.” He reached into his jacket pocket and brought out a black velvet box. When he opened it up I saw what looked like a tiny apothecary jar that couldn’t have been more than two inches in length with a tiny cork stopper in the top. A small hook stuck out of the cork and a silver chain ran through it.